National Network for District Authorizing (NN4DA)
The National Network for District Authorizing (NN4DA, or “the Network”) supports state-level initiatives that strengthen the charter school authorizing practices of school districts. The Network has three state association members and five states exploring joining the network as Incubating State Partners. Current NN4DA members include the California Charter Authorizing Professionals (CCAP), the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers (CACSA), and the Florida Association of Charter School Authorizers (FACSA). Incubating State Partners include Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The NN4DA is actively recruiting additional state partners and has financial resources to support work in new states through a National Dissemination Grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter School Program. The Network is led by a Governing Council made of leaders from its member organizations.
Why We Exist
Charter school authorizing is crucial to the success of the charter school sector. Nationally, about 90 percent of all authorizers are school districts, and about half of all charter schools are authorized by school districts. As charter school authorizers, school districts play a unique role, of both ensuring that charter schools are of high quality and able to fulfill their obligations as public schools while also overseeing their larger public school systems to effectively serve all students in their local community.
What We Do
The state members of the Network each support school districts in their state, and in some states educational service agencies like county offices of education:
- By creating model materials that reflect best practices and their state context;
- By convening authorizers to learn from one another; and
- By helping coordinate with other partners to promote understanding and support for best practices.
They also provide direct assistance to authorizing entities and broker assistance from peers in the state and nationally. The state members also have focused campaigns working to ensure all charter schools appropriately serve special populations, including students with disabilities and English learners. The Network is a resource to these states, and by working together these states are better able to pursue their local effort.